England seek Shane Warne's spin on selection

[King]

As England's bowlers were being put on the rack by India at Trent Bridge, it emerged that the chairman of England's selectors was seeking advice from Shane Warne. More... England seek Shane Warne's spin on selection By Kate Laven, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:54pm BST 28/07/2007 Have your say Read comments In pics: India take upper hand Trent Bridge scorecard Video: The Analyst at the Test As England's bowlers were being put on the rack by India at Trent Bridge yesterday, it emerged that the chairman of selectors was seeking advice from an unlikely source. Shane Warne, the Australian leg-spinner who for so many years tormented England, was sought out by David Graveney in an attempt to identify a second spinner for England's winter tour of Sri Lanka. Tormentor: Shane Warne enjoys an Ashes victory over England The first-choice, Monty Panesar, was one of the few England bowlers to have any success yesterday, claiming two wickets as India reached 254 for three in reply to the hosts' 198, with Sachin Tendulkar, having passed 11,000 Test runs, ominously poised on 57. Warne is happily assisting England's management with identifying talent, having already ushered three of his Hampshire team-mates, Chris Tremlett, Shaun Udal and Dimitri Mascarenhas - four if you count Kevin Pietersen - into the England fold. Yesterday, Graveney visited the Rose Bowl to see what else they had in their stockroom. Warne is an enthusiastic advocate of Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who so far this season has claimed 27 championship wickets at 36.77 and, even more enticingly, scored 439 runs at 43.9, which is more than enough to qualify him as a lower-order England batsman. "Shane was very impressed with Adil, although he conceded that he was still very young and just starting out on his career," said Graveney, who said Warne had been helpful in identifying future England prospects. "We didn't talk specifically about spinners. He sees a lot of players and has always been very good whenever Geoff Miller or I have asked questions, especially about England spinners. He understands our predicament," Graveney said. "Like everyone else, we have spoken to him about Adil, and Shane thinks he has what it takes to play at the highest level. We have swapped telephone numbers and will stay in touch." Graveney was also keen to discuss the suitability of Sussex all-rounder Luke Wright as a key player in England's Twenty20 plans with his captain Chris Adams, but it was Rashid who dominated conversation at the Rose Bowl. "Everyone agrees he has a huge future, but the likes of Darren Gough, Martyn Moxon and Geoffrey Boycott all seem to think that we should wait one more year before we think about selecting him. Leg spin is very difficult to bowl," he pointed out. Graveney, who then drove through the Hampshire countryside to Guildford to watch Surrey against Worcester, was also interested to hear what Warne had to say about England's latest fast-bowling find, Tremlett who, in his short international career so far, has demonstrated the mean and 'nasty' gene that his Australian captain has been so assiduously nurturing. "It might have been Stuart Clarke [the Australian pace bowler] who suggested Chris shorten his run-up but Shane seems to have had some input into making him think about his career," Graveney said. "He made him question what he wanted to get out of the game and how far he wanted to go." Warne, who retired from international cricket in January, is contracted to Hampshire until the end of 2008.

[King]

They are already planning for the Sri Lankan series?

[Ram]

Doesnt matter who they pick , England will be hammered in Lanka. If it is a three test series , Murali will take atleast 20 wickets. If the English can come out with 0-2 score line , they would be proud of themselves !

[The Outsider]

Much better than our bunch. English selectors have already made the selections for the ongoing series and I don't see anything wrong with them focusing on the winter tour. On how England will fare in Sri Lanka, I think they might surprise a few people. They have done reasonably well on the last couple of tours there.